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“Hey babe, I’m home” you hear Kirishima call from the front door of your apartment.
The two of you had been living together for a few months now, and you had no complaints on your end. He was the perfect boyfriend and the perfect housemate. The only thing you found difficult was that after so long of living on your own, you had gotten used to being able to hide away on particularly bad pain days without worrying about making anyone else, well, worry. Luckily you hadn’t had many really bad days since living together so hiding it was pretty easy. Kirishima knew about your chronic pain, and he never made you feel ashamed of needing to be extra careful with yourself; he was always particularly gentle with you too. No matter how careful you were, though, you had known that the day would eventually come where he would see you curled in on yourself, face covered in dried tears, and staring blankly at the wall in the dark confines of your shared room. You had just hoped to have been able to avoid it for a bit longer. You knew that there was no way that he would judge you for your ragged appearance, and he certainly wouldn’t think you were weak, Kirishima was your biggest and most enthusiastic supporter, but you were embarrassed all the same. So, listening to the sounds of your boyfriend shuffling off his shoes and hanging up his keys, you say nothing and hope he sees your curled frame and assumes you’re napping, and passes the bedroom by in favour of something captivating to wind down to at the end of his day in the living room, or for a snack in the kitchen.
“Babe?”
You tense.
“What are you doing just laying in the dark?”
His voice is soft, concerned, as he walks in and kneels beside you on the bed. Ah. No such luck.
You glance into his eyes and are met with worry. You think about outright lying; telling him that you’d just laid down to have a nap since it was your day off. No, he would know the moment the words left your mouth. He knew you too well. You opt to say, instead
“I’m just feeling a bit off today, Kiri, nothing to worry about”
with a forced smile. The look on his face tells you that he knows there’s more to it than that but he doesn’t want to pry. It’s when he places a large, calloused hand on your arm with a little too much unintentional force, causing you to wince that everything clicks into place in his mind.
“Oh babe I’m sorry! It’s a bad pain day, isn’t it?”
He asks with concern in his voice. You nod into your pillow, quickly look to the side with an almost imperceptible sniffle; face hot with shame at him seeing you like this.
He hums softly, noticing your wrinkled pyjamas, still on since last night, meaning you likely hadn’t been able to make it out of bed much, if at all. It didn’t even look like you’d changed positions since he’d left for work that morning. You feel the bed shift as he stands up and makes his way out of the bedroom without a word. You quickly look up, tears pin pricking at your eyes; was he ashamed of you for having stayed in bed all day? Was he mad that you hadn’t been up to wash the plates from last night's dinner? You had both agreed they could wait until the next day since you had both been exhausted, but it was the next day now, wasn’t it? Did he think you were weak? On another day you would have shot those thoughts down before they even surfaced; Kirishima was the last person you could ever imagine thinking these things. You had never felt more loved and appreciated in your life than you did with him. But right now your mind is so tired from trying to drown out the constant throbbing pain and ignore the sharp jolt of lightning forking through your neck shocking you at random intervals, to be able to squash what you know are unreasonable and unkind thoughts.
Just as you are about to spiral into another whirlwind of what-if’s you hear the steady thud of Kirishima's feet padding back into the room, sounding slightly unbalanced. When you glance up you see him smiling down at you, arms filled with haphazardly heaped armfuls of heating pads, a soft ice pack, a glass of water in one hand, and his pinky and ring finger curled in on what you assume is painkillers of some sort. The other hand is holding a bowl of soup, and two jello cups are nestled in the crook of his elbow. He looks, frankly, comical, trying to juggle so many things on his own. It really does look like he’s about to drop something, but as soon as you move to get up and help him he immediately stops you and hurries you back into a comfortable position, insisting that you stay put. Bending down slowly, he manages to place the soup, water, and jello cups on the bedside table before placing down the ice pack and heating pads on the edge of the bed. You can't help but let out a soft chuckle.
“Babe… What is all of this?”
You ask and he grins widely.
“Well, I figured you hadn’t been able to eat today and so you probably haven’t had any painkillers or water either. But I didn’t know if you wanted more of a meal or just a snack so I brought both. I also didn’t know if you would prefer heating pads or ice packs, so I also just brought both of those too! Now let’s get you settled up so I can take care of you.” He puts his arm behind your back for support as you slowly make your way into a seated position.You open your mouth to talk but he’s got painkillers and water in your hands before you have a chance to even make a sound; ushering you to take them.You Quickly do, taking a big mouthful of the cool water, savouring it before reaching over to grab the hot bowl of soup. He was right, you hadn’t eaten today, and while you hadn’t realized before now, you really were hungry. Kirishima beames as you take slow spoonfuls into your mouth, blowing on each bite. Beside you he starts to plug in the heating pad for you, but your gentle voice stops him.
“Actually, Kiri… the heating pad sounds nice and all, but maybe you could just lay with me instead?”
He was basically a blast furnace himself and nothing sounded more comforting to you than his warm embrace. Pausing from his kneeling position, he looks up at you and blinks confusedly for a moment before his face lights up and he pushes all of the heating pads and cooling packs off of the bed.
“Of course I can, babe! You finish up that soup and I’ll get into my pyjamas too.”
You watch him quickly shed his hero uniform until he’s down to his briefs. You take a moment to admire his toned back, littered with scars from years of demanding and unforgiving hero work.
‘He is so handsome’,
you think as you swallow the last spoonful of soup and place the bowl beside you next to the jello containers. The bed dips as Kirishima crawls in beside you. He lays on his side, arms open and welcoming—waiting for you to crawl into them. And you do. You slowly slot yourself into his side, face buried in his big chest and one arm wrapped around his torso to pull him as close to you as possible. Being surrounded by his warmth instantly makes your body go limp, your muscles finally giving you a moment of peace. Of course the pain killers and food probably contributed to the slow dulling of pain, you think absentmindedly, but your boyfriend's embrace feels the most soothing of all. A stray tear makes its way out of your eye and you snuggle your face further into his chest, hoping he won't notice, but he’s Kirishima so of course he does. You feel his grip around you tighten slightly but before you can say anything he runs his fingers gently and carefully through your hair, and you sigh contentedly.
“Hey, Kiri…”
“Hmm?” You feel him hum in response, big chest rumbling under your cheek.
“Thank you for everything… I love you so much.”
He presses a kiss into your head and replies “I love you more.”
You feel so blessed, and a little ashamed that you doubted him earlier. The love you feel for him is more than you can put into words. He really is the perfect boyfriend.